Ruba
by manyissues101
Summary: -Rikku and Gippal discuss things past and Rikku recalls memories- Hope. It means you, and me, and wreckage, and not being able to anything except smile.


Lime eyes, cause for such persecution, such hate, are what give us away

Lime eyes, cause for such persecution, such hate, are what give us away. Lime eyes with a spiral center, no different in any other way, are why we lack hope. We're Al Bhed, scorned and despised, and so it will always be. We will always be sentenced to such a life, scouring the desert for lit pieces of what used to be our home.

"Keyakku! Hu vyen! Fyed ib!" A scrawny child called after an older boy who was running much faster than she through the sand dunes. She was stopped and swinging her long arms, tanned from such abuse of the sun on skin. Huffs from her mouth and the pouting stamp of feet (creating an impressive sand cloud) did little slow the boy's progression.

_In the distance loomed a large metal structure. It was surrounded by sand, and so being quite the blemish on the usual sandy horizon. Perhaps this was what the boy was running to? Keyakku, or so he was called, seemed to be heading to it in familiarity. _

"_Lusa uh, Rikku! E ryja hud kud ymm tyo!" _

_The young girl, Riku, despite being a distance away (and yet still being able to communicate with her friend) stuck out her tongue and headed for the great metal composition. Home._

"_Cmufbuga!" Keyakku teased. Rikku lightly socked his arm before they locked limbs and headed inside._

I lift up the fallen beams, hoping that maybe I'll find something. I won't, there's no doubt, but for whatever reason I can't shake that little glimmer of _ruba_.

His body won't show up, that much I know, as it was for sure lost to nature years ago, reduced to dust. We as Al Bhed are born into the dust, live amongst it, and then die to complete the cycle. It's our lifespan, our religion, and our belief.

No, we've not more than one. We believe many things, but as Al Bhed we don't take to religion in its suppressing molds. We stick to the fact that all things are born, live, die, and sometimes commit _ajem_. _Ajem _is Yevonites, Summoners, and especially their language in its crude execution.

"Nabayd yvdan sa: I am Al Bhed. My name is Keyakku." His speech is flawless, and she is awed.

"I am Al Bhed. My…my name is Keyakku."

"Kuut! Pid ouin hysa ec hud Keyakku. Your name is Rikku." He mocks her with a little girn.

"My name is Rikku," she repeats, confidently.

"Oac. Yes, it is."

Yevonites wonder how we can stand such strong sunlight; I wonder how they can do without it. The sun is our light and our heat. The sun turns you the color of wet sand, and makes your hair brighter. It can be harsh and unforgiving if you're not careful, leaving angry red scorches across your body, but that's the price we pay, I suppose.

The sun is the reason that I see hundreds of Al Bhed, all scavenging around like fiends. They're crouched over the original floorplan of Home, trying to figure out where their residence was once upon a time. Some are digging in the sand, hoping to find some trinket of nostalgia to pass along through the generations, something to remember the past by. Some are in tents, too tired to continue the rest of the day, and some are being given medical treatment for harsh cihpinh.

I stand amidst the wreckage, searching not for a familiar metal beam or lost trinket, but instead a body that has long since gone. I search for him, in any shape, so that maybe he'll exist not just in my memories, but also in tangible form.

"You're quiet, girl. Zu got your tongue?"

I wondered why Gippal didn't speak in Al Bhed, but then again I wonder about Gippal a lot. Nevertheless, he seems to have a pretty good reason for everything that he does, even if it doesn't seem so at first.

"I'm fine, Gippal."

"Why are you here?"

"I'm looking for something."

"Looking for something? Like what?"

"Buried dnaycina!"

"Treasure, Rikku. Not dnaycina."

The girl, bigger now (but still scrawny) and almost grown into her arms, scoffed. "E cdemm tu hud ghuf fro E sicd cbayg dryd myhkiyka!"

"Because it is important that you know it," Keyakku reprimanded. He'd grown into a handsome young man, and towered over Rikku by a foot at least.

She stuck her tongue out and rested her hands on her waist. "Fine then. I'm looking for buried treasure. Care to join me?"

"You're not going to find him." Not it, but him. Gippal seemed to know what I was trying to hide.

"I know." I turned away, eyes focusing on the softly lit sun disappearing behind the dunes.

"Then why are you looking?"

"Ruba. I want to have ruba."

"There's no room for ruba here, Rikku," Gippal replied mutedly. He turned to survey the hundreds here, suffering in wistfulness.

"There's always room for ruba."

Gippal shook his head, uncharacteristically silent. He became a whole new person when he visited the ruins. We all did, really.

"Then why are we standing here?"

I didn't reply.

Gippal walked away, ready to let the tears rolling down my face descend in privacy.

"Rikku, why are you crying?"

"Because I learned a new word."

"But you love learning new words!"

She, a tender girl at the age of fifteen, let her tears fall freely and simply sniffled. "Hud drec uha."

"Frelr uha?" He hadn't spoken to her in their native language in so long that it almost seemed foreign to her ears on his tongue.

"War."

War. It means fighting, and anguish, and pain, and loss, and sorrow. It means a young girl watching the world pass her by. It means watching your loved one fade away in your arms.

War. It means you, and me, and the Guado, and not being able to do anything except watch the blood seep through your shirt.

"Then I have another word for you."

"Fryd funt?"

"Ruba. Hope."

"Hope. I like that one."

Hope. It means true, and wishing, and optimism, and smiles, and clear, and expectations. It means a girl, not grown and not young, watching each day grow brighter. It means thinking of your loved one, and remembering the good times and not the bad.

Hope. It means you, and me, and wreckage, and not being able to anything except smile.

0--0

This is the longest it's ever taken me to do a one-shot. For a while there I wondered where it was going, but by the end I got it. I've been writing for an hour straight!

I'm quite happy with this one, and I hope that I stayed in character! RikkuKeyakku is amazing.

Please take the time to review and tell me what you liked and, conversely, what you didn't like as I'm always looking to improve.

And if any of you want a correct English/Al Bhed translator thing then let me know. Most of the internet ones tend to be incorrect, so I made my own (in a nifty, difty Word document) that I promise is 100 accurate. I should know, having exercised my geekdom to sit down and translate the whole language myself. (Kind of pathetic, I know)


End file.
